A prison warden in Mississippi hired nearly a dozen released model inmates to work as chaplains, counselors and teachers. Other prisons can follow suit—and Christian ministries can help.
Prisons
Posted inGoodNews, Politics & Society
A state-funded reentry program stops the revolving door for Colorado’s formerly incarcerated
Prison reform advocates, including the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition and the Urban Institute, have praised the program for having “dramatically changed the field of re-entry in Colorado.”
Posted inGoodNews, Politics & Society
Formerly incarcerated men now pursuing higher education find community at Harlem’s Ignacio House
Since 2019, Ignacio House has housed 15 “resident scholars” who study at N.Y. colleges and universities at a site in the Bronx.
Posted inFeatures, Magazine
Hours of Need: One nonprofit’s holistic approach to helping incarcerated women and their families
Since 1992, Hour Children has aimed to prepare women during their sentence for re-entry into society and then provide support after it ends.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Prison policy that barred Catholic priests from visiting inmates struck down by Wisconsin judge
A Wisconsin judge ruled against the state prison system on Thursday, saying its Covid-19 visitor policy that barred Catholic clergy from meeting with inmates for more than a year violated religious freedom.
Posted inGoodNews, Politics & Society
Hope, healing and hospitality: A ministry of restorative justice is growing in Chicago
With programs from housing support to workplace development to art therapy, Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation serves formerly incarcerated people, their families and those struggling with crime or victimization.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Former priest serving life sentence for sexual exploitation dies in prison
Robert McWilliams, 41, was found unresponsive early Feb. 4, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. It is believed that he died by suicide.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Moral Economy
The U.S. economy sets up ex-prisoners for failure. The consequences are disastrous.
How we treat people coming out of prison is a measure of the morality of our economy.
Posted inFeatures, Politics & Society
White Catholics today condemn slavery. But are they ready to fight its new manifestation—mass incarceration?
While American Catholics today would unequivocally condemn the institution of slavery and Jim Crow segregation, most do not see or work against one of its most prominent present-day manifestations: mass incarceration.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope Francis welcomes prisoners to Vatican before they tour museums
Pope Francis told the group, “It is important to seek out what is positive at a time when life is not at its most beautiful. Seek the positive in order to keep going forward.”